Research and Development

NASA opened its $25 million, 50,000-sf office building in late spring of 2012 in Mountain View, Calif. The facility is expected to attain LEED Platinum sustainable design certification and features Bloom Energy fuel cells, ventilation pumps, photovoltaic panels, a water recovery system, and advanced building controls. The building provides collaborative open offices and is located at the Ames Research Center at Moffett Field. The facility is reputedly the most environmentally advanced federal building in the nation. 

The $855 million Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago opened in June of 2012. The 23-story, 1.25 million-sf facility provides 288 single-patient rooms with a footprint of 290 sf each. Designed to foster translational research, Lurie Children's Hospital is located on the campus of Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine and is connected to Prentice Women's Hospital. Ground was broken on the project in April of 2008. LEED sustainable design certification will be sought for the hospital.

GenScript USA opened the first phase of its R&D campus in Nanjing, China, in June of 2012. Located in the JiangNing Science Park, the 765,000-sf project includes three five-story buildings and two two-story animal research facilities. The campus include a conference center, offices, and research laboratories with advanced equipment for gene synthesis, protein purification and characterization, antibody engineering, and drug assays. Ground was broken on the facility in 2009.

The University of Strathclyde will begin construction in mid-2012 on the $138 million Technology and Innovation Centre (TIC) in Glasgow, Scotland. The 269,000-sf building will support collaborative research and development with industry partners for the creation of advanced technologies for healthcare, energy, biotechnology, and manufacturing. The facility will also house the Fraunhofer Centre for Applied Photonics.

The University of California, San Francisco opened the $200 million Sandler Neurosciences Center at UCSF Mission Bay in May of 2012. The five-story, 237,000-sf facility houses the Department of Neurology, the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases, the Memory and Aging Center, and the W.M. Keck Foundation Center for Integrative Neuroscience. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the basic and clinical research building will house approximately 100 principal investigators and their teams. Construction began on the project in May of 2010.

Imperial College London opened the $114 million Imperial Centre for Translational and Experimental Medicine (ICTEM) in May of 2012. Located on the Hammersmith Campus, the six-story building combines laboratory space for up to 450 scientists with a dedicated facility for evaluating and developing new medical treatments through clinical trials. The ICTEM features advanced cardiovascular research labs, next-generation gene sequencing machines, and a cancer research center. The facility was designed by Sheppard Robson.

The Department of Health is building the $218 million Consolidated Forensic Laboratory in Washington, D.C. The eight-story building includes two floors below grade and features a BSL-3 laboratory and a forensic biology research suite. The project team includes general contractor Whiting Turner, construction manager Jacobs Engineering, design architect HOK, and Vanderweil Engineers.

The University at Buffalo and Kaleida Health opened the $291 million Gates Vascular Institute (GVI) and the Clinical and Translational Research Center (CTRC) in late May of 2012. Located on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, the ten-story, 478,000-sf collaborative facility is connected to Buffalo General Hospital to promote the integration of translational research. The project architect was Cannon Design with Turner Construction as general contractor.

The Texas Biomedical Research Institute broke ground in May of 2012 on a $25 million expansion of its San Antonio campus. Designed by Lake Flato Architects and FKP Architects, the two-story, 70,000-sf Earl Slick Building will provide offices and 15 laboratories for programs in regenerative medicine, virology, and immunology. The building will include a biocontainment lab and research space for the Southwest National Primate Research Center.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) opened its new $86 million headquarters in May of 2012 in Arlington. The 13-story, 300,000-sf project is designed to attain LEED Platinum sustainable design certification. Built on a brownfield site, the secure facility will support strategic operations for the Department of Defense. Construction began in January of 2009. 

The University of Mississippi Medical Center is planning to break ground in early 2013 on the $35 million Cancer and Biomedical Science Research Center in Jackson. The 220,000-sf facility will provide an animal research vivarium,  labs for the UMMC Cancer Institute, and a 25,000-sf business incubator for biotechnology companies. The project is supported by $20 million in funding from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The first three floors of the building will be ready for occupancy in 18 months.

The Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology opened a 646,000-sf xenotransplantation research facility in May of 2012. Located in Daejeon, South Korea, the $135 million project will support animal research in organ transplants from miniature pigs to primates and the development of regenerative medicine therapies. The facility was developed in partnership with the Korea National Primate Research Center. The duration of construction was three years.

The University at Buffalo has selected HOK to design the new School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. The $375 million medical school will be built to attain LEED Gold certification. Construction will begin by fall of 2013 with completion expected in 2016. The facility will be integrated with UB's academic medical center to promote a synthesis of instruction, research, and treatment. 

The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth broke ground on the Massachusetts Accelerator for Biomanufacturing (MAB) in Fall River in May of 2012. Upon completion in fall of 2013, the MAB will be the only facility in the United States where startups will be able to test their biomanufacturing methods and bioproducts at every stage of development and access full-service support from business and marketing to science support.

Buffalo State College is building the $110 million Science and Mathematics Complex in Buffalo, N.Y. The project includes construction of a 96,000-sf facility to house the departments of biology, chemistry, mathematics, physics, and earth sciences. Designed by Cannon Design, the project will provide teaching and research labs, offices, a planetarium, instrumentation rooms, and a three-story atrium. Ground was broken on the facility in September of 2009.